Pathologists around the country are calling for Justice Minister Andrew Little to hear their concerns.

Senior doctors claim the national Forensic Pathology Service is on the brink of collapse, and if it falls over, homicide cases could be missed.

They say the Ministry of Justice is proposing to dismantle the service, and fragment it over four different providers.

Despite several calls to Andrew Little to stop the move going ahead - he's refusing to intervene.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell told Kate Hawkesby it raises the very serious issue that homicides could be missed because of limited resources.

"What is alarming about this, is that we have a national service that struggles because of lack of resourcing and you're going to fragment an under-resourced service to make it even more under-resourced. That is going to affect so many people and it will certainly hinder the work of the police."

LISTEN ABOVE AS IAN POWELL SPEAKS WITH KATE HAWKESBY